kayaking_kev

I've tried lots of hooks and by far the best for me has been the Owner Sniper Finesse Neko Hook Size 1 or 1/O when using barbed hooks. The barbs are strong and will keep the fish pinned. I recently been using a lot of barbless hooks and use the Gamakatsu Barbless Octopus in the same sizes. I haven't had any problems losing any fish with them. I always use an O-Ring and have caught up to 30 bass with the same worm before.

And I thought my previous collection was good, WOW! Very Nice. ?

Currently Xtasy 723c - Neko Rig Champion XP 704cb Glass - Shallow Crankbaits Fury 663c - Jerkbaits This Past Season Xtasy 755c - Jigs Extreme HP 702c - Finesse/Ned Rig Champion XP 734c - Spinnerbaits Champion XP 736cb Glass - Chatterbaits/Deep Divers Champion XP 705cb Glass - Medium Divers/Lipless Champion 634cb - Skinny River Kayaking Champion XP 704sf - Never Used Kaden 744c - Utility Sierra 735c - Frogs Fury 703c - Utility Fury 702sf - Finesse/Dropshot ------------------------ I will be selling the 3 Dobyns that I have left, not because I don't like Dobyns Rods, but because I have recently built my own custom arsenal with X-ray and Phenix blanks with Torzite & SiC guides using carbon grips.

I asked in the Dobyns Community on Facebook and even they don't really know. I had someone say it was a misprint, and someone say basically what myself and kingmotorboat was trying to explain. I would say that's about the best explanation so far, but if I get any better responses on there I will let you know. Gary Dobyns post on there, as well as other staff members, but right now Dobyns office is out of commission due to power outage.

I know it's pretty confusing, my guess is that it has to do with handle length. They can be both used for pitching & flipping as can other regular Mag-H Dobyns casting rods. In regular casting rods such as the Sierra 735c it doesn't go any heavier than a Mag-H, but if in their pitching & flipping rods where the handles are longer and the lure ratings I believe go higher, they have to call that one a MH to be able to call the others with higher lure ratings a H and Mag-H. But, that's just my guess, I didn't check the website to reference any of it.

My 1st year of fishing I used a $10 zebco 202 ML spincast combo on a skinny river full of smallies and would occasionally throw a rapala floating minnow and catch an occasionally 3 lb. smallie with it, so I'm sure that setup will do you good. It will handle a 4 lber with your drag set accordingly. I would consider using mono line, at least as a leader for it's stretch with those smallies, have fun.

I believe it was Sportsman Warehouse, but I think you had to email them or something to get a code for it. I think it was MN Fisher who posted about it.

The Tatula 7'0" Medium/Regular weighs 4.5 oz., the OG Tatula's are much lighter, I believe a lot of models are under 4.0 oz.

Marketplace is really the only reason I go on FB, that and the fishing groups like Shimano Buy&Sell, Daiwa Buy&Sell, Dobyns etc... some great deals can be found and easy to sell stuff on there. It doesn't have to be local, just make sure you take precautions like using PayPal, (Not friends & family), ask for a invoice, insurance, signature verification if you want. I would also check people's profile to make sure they aren't new and don't have 0 friends or something like that. If their profile is set to private, then send a friend request. I have never been burned and have bought/sold many things on there, but I have also seen a lot of people not be smart and get scammed.

That was my initial impression of them also when I used it. I thought it was probably the fastest series Dobyns had and I've tried them all, but I've seen others who didn't agree with that. I don't know maybe I didn't break mine in enough, but it still wasn't near as fast as a MH SLX casting rod.

If you think that's funny, I have a pic of one of my Xtasy's with a 13 Fishing Fate Black reel on it because it was all black. I might of fished with that combo once, but I hated that reel, it would scuff by just looking at it. Xtasy now has a Metanium on it though to do it some justice. Don't get it twisted though, I'm not rich, I just buy at prices that I know I can sell them for and make my money back.

I'm a fool when it comes to matching reels with rods. All my champions xp's had some version of a slx reel on them and I just built a custom spinning rod specifically to match the Shimano Vanford and ordered another Tatula Type-R for another rod I just built.

I had my paired with a Tatula Type-R and thought it was awesome looking.

ahh ok, I think I misread you're question, my bad. I've only used the black carbon rod skin. One of the biggest pains I've had so far was dealing with rod skins and decals, until I got some UV resin for the edges and a good UV light to cure it with before applying finish. btw though, can you use acrylic to marble with, that's what I was wondering when I seen in it at the dollar store, because it was taking them so long to ship my order.

I was just at the dollar store last week and seen a bunch of acrylic paint there, not sure if that's what your wanting though.

I'm pretty sure you can use the Testors Gloss Enamel to do it. I bought 4 different colors of it from Get Bit about 3 months ago for $1.99 each. They have Lime and Fluorescent Green colors. The description says you can paint or marble your blank with it.

I tried to spool a spinning reel once with 20# Fluorocarbon on a size 2500 reel my 1st year of fishing, back when I was a complete noob. I made the mistake of doing so in front of my wife and she just cracked up as I opened the bail and it all came unraveling back off as fast as I put it on. Now, I'm personally not a big fan of FC as main line on spinning or baitcasting gear, mainly to due to lack of enough experience with it. I mostly use it as a leader only, but I still to do try it from time to time to get better at it with the use a line conditioner. I've had the most success with InvisX as a mainline on a BC and actually liked that, but have never tried Tatsu.

Very nice reels, especially for the price.

If you're not too far from Dobyns HQ in Texas or even a Dobyns retailer, I would take a road trip and handle one for yourself to see how you like the feel. But, from my understanding the shorter the blank gets, the stiffer it becomes, but I could be wrong about that. The only Dobyns rod I personally heard of being stout was the Extreme HP 746c, but that's not the length you're looking for. I would guess the 705c to be a little more stiffer than the 734c though. I've have had a Xtasy 755c & Sierra 735c, but nothing shorter in the 5 power. I used the Xtasy for Jigs in the range you listed, and the Sierra for frogs, but I never threw worms with either. I always used 5" worms and 1/4 oz. weights or less and for trick worms I preferred softer tips. EDIT: Dobyns HQ is over 4 hours away, so that is probably out of the question.

I noticed you have really loaded up on gear and tackle this year. Tell the Monkey I said Hello!

If you go for the SLX combo and can squeeze just a few more dollars I would go for the SLX XT combo. It's $170, but you get 10% off for signing up for the newsletter, making it $153 before tax. But be wary that I had the 7'2" MH and 7'5" H SLX rods and they didn't balance very good, but were pretty light overall. I've heard some of the other models don't have the balance issue. MN Fisher made a good suggestion with the Dobyns Fury rod. I prefer the Abu Garcia Pro Max over the Silver Max any day, I paid about $50 for mine. I always recommend the Lew's Hank Parker Speed Stick for $40 as a really good budget rod. I have one with a Pro Max and they go well with each other. I still like to use it even though I have high end rods. Daiwa AirX-D is another budget rod often recommended on here, but I have no personal experience with that one.

The Kaden Series is the newest addition with Dobyns. These rods feature high modulus blanks, Fuji reel seats, Sea Guide’s popular XO guides, Kevlar wrappings, and Portugal cork handles. The Kaden Series are all built on the spline and balanced. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I don't think I'm allowed to link to the site that has them, but it's a fairly known site, you'll just have to find it on your own. They are retailing for $169 & $179, but sign up for the newsletter and get 10% off. I tested out the 744c prototype last February and as a Dobyns fan I had mixed feelings. I admit I didn't spend a ton of time fishing with it as I had a ton of other new rods at the time that I preferred to fish with. Hardcore Dobyns fans love them and a lot of them who fished with them a lot more than I did say they are pretty sensitive, but take that for what it's worth. There has been a pretty big craze for them over the last year, but I think a lot of that is because they were so rare and hard to get. The only difference they made from the prototypes is that these have full cork handles, which was expected. They are well balanced as usual with Dobyns rods and I did like the colors, but overall I personally didn't find it to be anything special, but like I said I didn't put as much time in with it as a lot of others have. I'm sure others here who have used them more can tell you more about them. The action is more like the Fury's and Champion's and not like the Sierra's. There is very little Kevlar wrapping on it and the blanks are not sanded, at least they weren't on the prototype and that was to reduce weight, but my 744c still weighed 5.1 oz. But, like I always say about Dobyns rods, their balance makes them feel much lighter in the hand than their weight on the scale would indicate. And, it's hard to beat their warranty. Limited quantities are available and I don't know of any other place that has them right now, but I'm sure they are coming.

If you're wanting to just replace one guide, you can hand turn it while it dries. I paid about $50 for my rod dryer, might of even gotten it cheaper because it was on BF. There are simple ways to make your own wrapping station from wood with plenty of videos on YT that show you how. The hardest part is the spool assembly. I first started practicing wrapping using a cardboard box and a heavy book, and that's simple and effective. There are also DIY rod dryers. You can buy a motor for like $10-$15 and rig up PVC attachment or something to hold the rod blank. If you have an old microwave, you can even take the motor out from the bottom that makes the plate turn inside.

Sorry admins, I edited my post to add that shipping is free for orders over $100 and now requires it to be approved again, Thanks!